How was student agency depicted in the film you watched? You might describe and react to student agency in the film or compare characters in the film and whether/what kinds of agenda they possess. Feel free to also suggest topics for discussion when we meet to discuss.
In Ferris Bueller's Day Off, student agency isn't depicted much in a classroom setting, but outside the classroom, it is depicted in a different way. Ferris is faced with several challenges like faking sick to not go to school, getting his girlfriend out of school early, and fooling his principal, Mr. Rooney. Ferris devises his clever tactics from what his environment provides him and uses them to influence the world around him and get the most out of what he wants from his day off from school. In the end, he narrowly scrapes by and gets away with his day off's adventures. Student agency was especially prevalent in Ferris' case because he demonstrated his well-honed ability to take initiative over his environment in order to shape the reality he wants to live. While not in a learning setting, this concept is still demonstrated and provides a nice, alternative, and unique perspective of student agency via learning outside the classroom rather than in it.
ReplyDeleteIn Clueless, students basically run the whole school. The way Cher can manipulate the teachers to change her grades, her peers to think highly of her, the way she sets the standards for what's normal or cool. At least until she turns Ty into the new it girl. But Cher has a bit of a reality check in the end. She was kind of humbled at the end of the movie and had self realization that she doesn't know everything and can't control everything. She loses a bit of agency but in a good way I think. The teachers in this movie are presented as very easily manipulated. The only teacher that Cher struggled with she quickly fixed up with the counselor and he suddenly wasn't a problem anymore. I feel like a lot the characters motivations are to be popular, have sex, or look good. The school's cliques are clearly defined and people are meant to stick to what they are. The grades aspects of school is touched on when report grades come out, but its not a point of stress for long because the character we are following, Cher, can easily get all her grades changed based on her argument skills. This movie had some weird aspects though, especially her and her step brother ending up together. I think that's worth discussion haha.
ReplyDeleteHonestly the student agency/skills in Ferris Bueller are overestimating the limits of a teenage boy. Maybe that’s my bias, I just think his cleverness is uniquely fictional (which makes sense, it’s fiction after all). I wouldn’t even point it out if I didn’t know so many teenage boys who felt that they were just like Ferris (they were not nearly as smart or clever). This film doesn’t focus on Ferris as a student as much as it does Ferris as a delinquent. If anything, the portrayal of Cameron shows a more accurate student experience, especially in his lines about not even knowing what he wants to do with his life after high school. The anxiety, feeling paralyzed, easily manipulated by the person he considered his best friend. Honestly there was more emotional depth or depth period in Cameron’s character. That’s one of the reasons people view/theorize that the film is like a Fight Club situation where Cameron is the protagonist and Ferris is the manifestation of who he wants to be.
ReplyDeleteThe student agency in Moxie consisted of a group of high school girls dedicated to fighting sexism at their school. They’re portrayed as rebellious and daring. Their purpose is to raise awareness about how the rules at their school, such as the dress code, target women unfairly. I honestly think the message of the movie was really good. It’s important to talk about how school policies can create an environment where girls have less freedom than boys, and give boys the freedom to get away with treating girls like objects. The movie came out in 2021, so it was pretty relevant at the time, but I feel like nowadays people are a lot more aware of these things. However, there are still a lot of issues with the school system in regard to gender inequality. Although the movie’s intentions were well-placed, I have to admit that it was kind of hard to watch. Some of the scenes could have been better, I found myself skipping some of them because they were so cringe. It reminded me of Disney. Like that episode we watched of Girl Meets World, it had the right message, it was just overdone at some points. Nevertheless, I still think the movie does a good job of bringing this prevalent issue to light.
ReplyDeleteI watched Class Rank. Personally, I did not enjoy the movie as much as I did with the last one. The movie showed two high school students trying to abolish class ranking mainly to benefit one of the students more. The idea of removing class rank as a whole is a good idea but one of the main characters, Veronica, did not mean for it to benefit all. Because Veronica was second and not first she makes Bernard, another student, run for the school board of education to abolish this once and for all. Although it did not succeed, it showed how the students were able to gather enough signatures to nominate Bernard for the board.
ReplyDeleteI watched breakfast club, and the student agency was more directed towards each other. Their all stuck in detention together and through the length of the movie we learn more about them. They're all from varying economic classes and have different home lives. I think each kid is kind of a different agenda. How one is the delinquent, one is a nerd, a jock, the popular girl, and the troubled kid. Whenever they finally had a heart to heart (multiple parts) they consistently brought up their social status (or how the character is perceived to be).
ReplyDeleteI forgot to put my name.. ^
DeleteI watched Ferris Bueller's Day Off. In Ferris Bueller's Day Off, I thought it may have been a little over the top. It over exaggerated a lot of things. Especially some of the things that an everyday teenager is capable of. The movie was mainly about Ferris who was a little bit of a trouble maker. It wasn't really about ferris and his school life though, if anything it was him avoiding school. The student agency in this movie was more about him learning about things that are outside of school.
ReplyDeleteI watched Clueless. The movie was based around Cher and how she wants everything to be in her control. She considered herself a person who did good deeds. The truth was, she manipulated her teachers into giving her better grades. I found some of her interactions with her teachers disrespectful and in reality, if a student said what Cher said, they wouldn’t be let off the hook. But she was the person everyone looked up to or wanted to be like so whenever she would talk back to a teacher, the students would cheer her on. Cher also treated other students like her puppets. For example, giving Tai a makeover and attempting to set her up with one of her “friends”. She said and did whatever she wanted to in order for things to go the way she wanted them to. But towards the end of the film, she had a reality check that not everything will go her way and that she can be wrong. When Cher said “I decided I needed a complete makeover. Except this time, I makeover my soul.” This was such a growing point for her character as I felt this film focused so much on anything but their education. They really only cared about popularity, being physically pretty to the point where girls were dressing up in PE class and getting plastic surgery. It’s actually crazy to think that they were playing high school students.
ReplyDeleteI watched Moxie which shows student agency by having character learning to be more independent and vocal about issues they believe in. The main character goes from being a rule follower to leading the other students in a revolution and speaking out about the unfair treatment of women at their school. It was interesting to me that there's a contrast in some characters having more agency. The main character's best friend agrees with the main character's ideas, but initially struggles to speak up about the issues because it involves breaking rules.
ReplyDeleteI watched Moxie and it was about high school girls not getting the same treatment or freedom that the guys get. It starts off with a shy, rule following girl named Vivian that secretly started a feminist group called 'Moxie.' This new club started commotion in the school but it led a lot of girls to come together and also let her open up and create new friendships with other feminists. To be honest, I did not like the movie and I was cringing at many scenes because of the acting and lines, also the main character was unlikeable.
ReplyDeleteI watched Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Only a small portion of this movie took place in the school, but the parts that did showed little student agency. The students were shown falling asleep in class while being lectured in a monotone voice. This could be the reason why ferris is inclined to skip school because he feels he is not getting anything out of it. Throughout the movie, Ferris is seen convincing his friends to do crazy things with him, and they oblige. If he was able to use these leadership skills in the classroom, he may have thrived as a student.
ReplyDeleteI watched the breakfast club, i enjoyed this movie more than the last one. Student agency is discussed throughout the whole movie, as they talk and get to know each other better, where they come from and what they did to be in detention. They all have different agendas throughout the movie, Claire as a princess/popular girl, John as the deliquent/bully, Brian as the nerd, Andrew as the jock, and allison as the emo/troubled kid.
ReplyDeleteI watched The Breakfast Club and the way the student agency was depicted was by a group of kids who were stuck together in detention on a Saturday. Each came from different social classes, different home lifestyles, different cliques and felt like they all had nothing in common and didn't understand one another. Each was pre-judged especially by the principle where he told the school trouble maker John he would get no where in life and he would disappear and no one would care. Each kid is perceived a certain way and how they would grow up to be especially as their parents. But slowly through the movie they all realize each one of them is a part of another someway each being a jock, a trouble maker, a nerd, the popular kid, and a troubled kid. Each revealed their faults versus being perceived as what everyone makes them out to be and what the school's negative perception is when they leave or how they should be.
ReplyDeleteI watched the movie ‘Clueless’ . I will say the students in the movie were almost “praising Cher” especially when it came down to her playing matchmaker between M . Hall & Ms.Geist , thinking it had solved all of their problems (which it did for a while) but it was depicted as everyone just doing their own thing. Cher and Dionne basically “ran” the school then Tai came along just for her to take the spotlight away from Cher & basically Cher had to realize that life isn’t just about her and that she should do things for the greater good. In the beginning , she was able to walk over everyone then she had to wake up to reality & realize that “you can’t talk your way out of everything every time” she states.
ReplyDeleteMr.Hall * ^ - Novia .
DeleteThe movie I watched was Ferris Bueller's Day Off. And while only a small fraction of the movie takes place within the school itself, the small section shows little student agency throughout the school. The students are portrayed as bored and act as if they would rather be doing any other activity other than school. I feel as if Ferris himself shows the least agency, with him actively encouraging misbehavior and antics throughout the film. - Joseph Danos
ReplyDeleteI watched the movie Class Rank, which I had never heard of or seen before this class. It's about two high school seniors who are at the top of their class and effortfully trying to use their voices to change the educational proceedings of their school system. Bernard is trying to get a seat on the school board and obsessively goes to every school board meeting to promote his ideas to the board of education. Meanwhile Veronica is also trying to make change by getting rid of the student ranking system that holds back the top few students from getting into Ivy league schools. They're student agency is the drive behind Bernard's entire campaign, they both relentlessly try to achieve change and to be apart of decision making. Unfortunately, this movie has a grip on reality among school systems and the two were unsuccessful in their campaign. The film depicts the struggle of students advocating for their educational pursuits and how intolerant the system is of change. Although their efforts led them to failure, they both got to see a glimpse of what their "student agency" could lead them to.
ReplyDeleteThe movie I chose to watch was the breakfast club. The movie is about five high schoolers that end up together in detention for a day. The movie focuses more on these kids rather than the schools faculty and explores how in a school setting the groups of people put together are often very different from one another and separates people into different classes based on their wealth, looks, and popularity. Throughout the movie the kids learn through experiences shared that they are more alike than they thought and they are all in it together.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie "The Breakfast Club", we see different characters with different characteristics and agendas such as the jock, the athlete, the nerd, the troublemaker, the rich/popular girl, and the weirdo. The film delves into their personal lives beyond the school environment, and explores how these experiences shape their behavior within it.
ReplyDeleteIn Clueless the students are the center of the film. the film portrayed several stereotypes like classism and clicks in high school. cher was portrayed as the rich white girl who tries to change and makeover an underprivileged popular new student. Throughout the film, lots of stereotypes are shown with things Cher says. She's also very sheltered and thinks she can get anything she wants. for example, manipulating her teachers for a good grade. overall the movie was very stereotypical high school and not very Let Change the World trope. also, Cher falling in love with her step brother was kind of weird because they both called her dad "dad" and overall the age difference stuck out.
ReplyDeleteIn clueless it was basically about social levels. Popularity is shown throughout the movie. Cher is a popular girl with money and people at school idolize her as well with her best friend Dionne. A new character is presented which is Tai and her character is dressed more normally and the way she thinks isn't entitled like the rest of the school. It was weird seeing how Cher and Dionne were dressing Tai up for their own liking because she wasn't "popular". Towards the end cher makes two teacher fall in love so they can be happy and give her good grades and thats when she loses a bit of agency. Later on she self reflects and decides to switch the way she think so she begins to be more accepting of the different cliques in school and donates. In my group we talked about how cher falling in love with her stepbrother at the end felt uncomfortable and rushed.
ReplyDeleteEmily.H
DeleteThe movie I watched was the breakfast club. It is a movie about 5 students who have Saturday detention and so happen to come from different social classes. The movie really helped depict the different environments students be having not just in school but outside the schools and the social pressure that comes with it. We see an example of this with the jock Andrew, his dad is who pressured him to be a wrestler for the school and the reason why he’s in detention is because he beat up a “weaker” kid to try and impress his dad. The movie showed that learning about each other experiences they learned that they all go through a lot of the same things and that they are more alike then they thought. The detention ended up giving them a chance to understand each other and change their outlook on the rest of the kids in their school and different social classes.
ReplyDeleteFor my second film I chose Class Rank, a story about two intelligent students who aim to change their education system and run for the school board. Their motives might be a bit skewed, but in the end they learn a valuable lesson about hard work and education. These students had a lot of agency and determination for change within the school board. This movie was a lot different from the previous movie because it was so student centered; the students created change rather than the teacher.
ReplyDeleteI watched Ferris Bueller's Day off. I think the student agency in the movie is about him learning about things outside of school.He's not really learning in school because of his behavior.
ReplyDeleteI watched Ferris Bueller's Day Off and majority of the movie was barley at school. The small portion that was shoot at the school barely demonstrated any type of student agency. The students would just stare at the teacher and act like they couldn't even stay their name for attendance. In my opinion it really didn't give an acute demonstration on what students actually do in school. But outside of the classroom, Ferris literally faked his illness and tricked his whole town to believe that he needed a new kidney. His agency is evident in his ability to manipulate situations to his own advantage. This movies definitely took different and more elaborated approach on the learning atmosphere but it does have some type of truth behind it. Sometimes I doo feel like some teachers are always talking in monotone and want to just stare into the depths of the unknown but in reality I'm not going to portray it they was they did in the movie.
ReplyDeleteFor my second movie, I watched class rank which was about two students trying to get on the board of education to change the policy about the class rank. They were trying to make a change and this is different from the first movie we watched, in which the teachers were the ones trying to make a change. All in all this movie shows the viewers that you can make a change in your community regardless of your age.
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ReplyDeleteFor the second movie, I chose to watch Class Rank. The movie focused on two students, Bernard and Veronica, who were number 1 and number 2 on their school’s class rank. It portrayed their agendas as very competitive and their motives to be self fulfilling. It played into some of the stereotypes of the ‘smart’ kids in school. For example, they only care about grades, are overly competitive, do everything for their college applications, and don’t have a lot of friends or a personal life (a bad school-life balance). Although they realize at the end of the movie that they weren’t working together with the best of intentions and they apologize to each other, the damage of the negative stereotypes portrayed is already done. In my opinion, the ending of the movie didn’t redeem the characters, or the movie, enough for me to like it.